Chanter’s Barrow

This is the easternmost barrow of the eleven Chapman Barrows which we have named Chanter’s after the excavator. It was excavated by the Reverend Chanter over 100 years ago and he published some drawings at the time. On site it is easy to see where the trench was driven into the mound, but it is not clear what is slumping, what is backfill and what is original mound.

There are lots of questions about this site. Was the turf mound described by Chanter really turf? If so where did this come from? What is the low feature a few metres away? Could it be another barrow or just remains of Chanters’ spoil heap? What were the environmental conditions at the time of building? How does this fit in a time line with other nearby sites? In year 1 of the project ( subject to English Heritage Permissions and under the firm direction of Exmoor National Park experts) we will get the best possible record of the site through detailed plans, remote sensing ( geophysics) look again at LIDAR etc. From this we will work with the archaeologists and English Heritage to build a research design and obtain permission and funding to re-open a section of Chanter’s trench to record and take environmental samples to modern standards. We may also take auger samples and dig test pits nearby to look at the peat depths and environmental conditions in more detail.